Found buried in the sands of the Palar, 18 stone pillars and their bases, part of a tomb dating to the 16th century, were moved to their new home in Vellore’s Government Museum earlier this month.
The museum is situated inside the Vellore Fort.
Last month, villagers who were hauling sand in baskets at the government-run quarry on the Palar riverbed at Kazhanipakkam, stumbled upon portions of a mandapam -like structure. Stone pillars, bricks and an urai kinaru (ring well) were discovered at the site.
Ikkallu , or tomb
Following a visit to the site, K. Saravanan, curator of the museum, informed the district administration that a two-line Tamil inscription was found on a pillar, which said that it was ‘the tomb of Kondrai Appilaan’, and dated the monument to the 16th century. “The word ikkallu denotes that this was a tomb,” he said
Mr. Saravanan added, “As per the Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878, such findings should be handed over to the local museum. The Collector issued an order in concurrence with the Director of Museums, Chennai, to transfer the materials from the site to the museum.” On October 6, Anaicut’s tahsildar handed over the historic objects to the museum.
A broken statue of a woman, of which only the torso was found, was also handed over to the museum.
Seen on display
Today, the stone pillar with the Tamil inscription has been displayed alongside other stone inscriptions outside the museum building. “We already have ten stone inscriptions dating from the 9th to 16th centuries. This is the 11th addition. We are planning on arranging the pillars in an L-shape, and retaining their bases as they are,” Mr. Saravanan said.
Among the museum’s stone inscriptions is one from Ilayanallur in Walajapet dating to 868 AD and the period of Nandivarman III; another found in Sivanathapuram in the Vellore taluk and dated to 1087 AD, which belongs to the reign of Kulothunga Chola-I; and an inscribed stone slab dating to 1605 AD, pertaining to the reign of the Vijayanagara king Venkathiraya, which was found in Rajapalayam in the Katpadi taluk.
However, sources said archaeological officials have not yet visited the site on the Palar riverbed, where the pillars were unearthed.
